Your Humble Scribe

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I heart walking sticks

One of the first Gentle Readers I noticed coming by my little scribblings on a regular basis was a LiveJournal blogger by the name of Jenna Magpie.Today I learn from her better half (congratulations, you two!) that Jenna had a bit of excitement earlier.I've mentioned in the past that I have a fondness for canes and walking sticks.Her husband dropped me a note to mention that he and Jenna had purchased a City Stick and an African Walking Stick from Cold Steel, and that his lady was forced to use the City Stick today to good effect against a boor at a petrol station.You can't see me sitting here at the desk smiling, but rest assured that I am.Very well done, Ms. Jenna. Very well done.Any Gentle Readers wanting to learn more about this very effective, very discrete weapon can find specialized instruction from CaneMasters. The Korean art of Hap Ki Do has dedicated cane fighting techniques in it, as does classical Savate, WWII combatives and Japanese hanbo-jutsu.While the standard cane is a bit longer than the sticks used in the Filipino Martial Arts, the techniques of Kali/Arnis translate to the cane/walking stick with minimum effort.For a handy, low-profile weapon that can be carried anywhere in any state under just about any situation, I thoroughly recommend the cane.That being said, I also thoroughly recommend at least getting familiar with the basic techniques of defence with said cane.Again -- very well done.

19 comments:

Jenna's a little flabbergasted at the moment that you linked to her little part of the world, so until such time as she can compose herself, please accept my thanks. And the nuptuals were a... grand... event. One of these days we'll find decent pics of the lightsaber battles on the dancefloor. (Yes, you read that correctly)

And seperated thanks for your writing. J's father is a retired FBI agent/Marine, and both he and I practically preach situational awareneness and don't-be-a-victem mentality. It's your missives and meditations on mental mindsets that I think actually struck home. Sometimes hearing it fomr outside the home makes a message more meaningful. Thank you again.

I noticed that Cold Steel now has a Micarta head. That and the pistol grip design are very tempting to me... (jots down on the wish list) - the reason I carry the African and J carries the City is that (aside that the city is 2" longer, and J, at 6'2" is 3" taller than I, and subseqeuntly it fits her better) is that the City always felt top heavy to me. My background in kendo makes me tend to default to a hari no kame stance, and the City always feels odd there. Perhaps the lighter Micarta head would fix that. And it's an excuse to get a new toy. Or two.

But like I said, on several levels, thanks again. Keep writing, we both really enjoy reading your work.

LD,Is it true that the police officer in Jenna's account needs her to "press charges" for him to arrest the perp for assault? And does "yelling obscenities and moving toward you in a threatening manner" constitute "Assault"?

After a few moments of breathing into a paper bag (I mean come on... my poor little site counter is having a nervous breakdown from the wonderful influx of readers) I felt able to stop here for a moment and say thanks again to Lawdog.

As to the questions I've been getting on my site, in a few emails, and even here... the officers in my local area are, shall we say... rather reluctant to spend their days off doing much. With so much of my family in law enforcement, it has taken some getting used to such an... interesting view of law. But then, I'm talking about an area where they now send a bill if the police have to come (cost of gas for the cars, wear and tear on the vehicles, officers times... etc. Yes. Seriously.) out to an incident, I find myself both glad I could protect myself and unsurprised that other than a good ol' boy laugh at the fellow's predictament, the officer just wanted to get back to his errands. Tis what it is.

As for would a few nasty words and a threatening gesture count as assault? No. But the shove into the door of my Jeep did. As did the fact that, as a not small female, the area he grabbed and shoved would have getten him horsewhipped if my da or my husband had been around. One of the big reasons I was glad to just walk away. Hubby is a calm collected individual... most of the time. I'm not completly sure that he could have kept himself from doing a little "corrective therapy" to help the man learn to leave women alone.

Like your husband and da, I would also be hard pressed not to do a little "corrective therapy" if I saw that(wether or not I knew the woman, you or any other). Probably through the judicious use of joint-locks and a "stern talking to."

Regarding sword canes, I'm not real sure what Georgia law says about them. But then, even when I walked with a cane, I never had much use for a sword.

Now, my old cane is a big heavy rhododendron root... when I got it, I selected it from a barrel full of 'em and most still had the dirt on. That was 15 years ago and it's still solid. Back when I walked with it, a lot of my friends talked about how much damage I could probably do with it.

I had a crazy neighbor who was a sword *freak*... "blacksmithed" crude swords from mis-applied steel. His deal with them was mostly nasty. He was one of the reasons I started keeping a sidearm handy. I knew I wasn't up to a sword/stick fight with him.

I picked up a nice hickory hiking stick from Sportsman's Guide for about $20. A bit long for everyday use, more like a quarterstaff, but definitely will ruin someones day. My lovely bride found an antique walking stick with a sterling silver peacock (tail relaxed) handle for my 30th birthday. It has gone for many walks with me in the last 17 years and I have faith in it stopping a problem if the need arises. Good on ya Jenna for teaching that idiot the error of his ways.

Well done, Jenna! May your gas tank always be full and your walking stick always within reach.

This story reminded me of the antique sword canes I remember seeing as a kid. It seems Cold Steel had forseen just such a thought: http://www.ltspecpro.com/88scfseries.html

My birthday is coming up soon, too! Probably not advisable to carry from a legal point of view, though. Even if local laws would allow one to carry it, if one ever were forced to reveal its hidden potential to one or more disadvantaged youths, said youth's lawyer would no doubt have a field day in front of a jury of sheeple. Nevertheless, they look like magnificent tools. I think I will have to get one as part of my "Get Ready for Hillary in '08" plan.

There was a period where I needed something to lean on, and wanted to be my weird self, so I got a full-on staff. The best use was at the Maryland Renn Fest, where they don't allow knives, but did allow entirely too many drunken asshats who thought that a low cut bodice was an invitation to grope. I may have to haul it back out of the closet...

I have reached the age where a stick makes sense , but not enfeebled enough that it makes appearances . I am a stove up cowboy who is 40+ with a good grounding in some sciences of the stick ( as far as they trained cops way back when ) but cannot for the life of me figure out how to impliment it into my life .. hell i guess ill go on with what is at hand and a 9mm .

I've often used a slightly longer than regulation jo-staff as a walking stick in the nastier parts of town. And in my youth, I hung out a lot with members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and along the way picked up a low level of skill with swords, moderate skills with a war hammer, and rather impressive abilities with a battle ax. The hammer skills would mesh rather well with Cold Steel's City Stick, with the pistol grip head. But I'm curious, does anyone know how such a stick (fiberglass shaft, rubber tip, steel head) would mesh with the TSA and air travel in general?